Development of geography in higher education in China: departments, curricula, and faculty, 1904–1949

ABSTRACT

By extracting information from various original materials and using geography departments, curricula, and faculty as indicators, this paper contributes to the discussion of the development of geography in higher education in China from 1904 to 1949. Four mutual connections are outlined. First, the development of geography in higher education is inextricably linked to social and political changes. Second, geography in higher education during the period concerned progressed in fits and starts, which affected its distribution. Third, geography departments were split into two categories according to the type of higher educational institution, which created differences in the tasks, curricula, and faculty of these departments. Fourth, faculty were trained in both domestic and foreign universities, and Western universities made an obvious contribution to the growth of qualified academic faculty. Simultaneously, universities where qualified academic faculty were trained were centralized both in domestic and foreign aspects. The special role of geographers returning from overseas study, the particularity of geography in higher education in China, and the connection between Chinese and foreign geography are also discussed in terms of geography departments, curricula, and faculty.

KEYWORDS:

• Geography departments
• geography curricula
• geography faculty
• geography in higher education
• China
• 1904-1949

Acknowledgments

We thank the reviewers and editors for their helpful comments towards improving this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Because materials such as the special reports are very abundant, we cannot list all of them in this paper (for an incomplete list, see J. Sun, 2019); only those used to discuss special questions in this paper have been mentioned.

2. Chengdu Normal University planned to develop a geography department in 1930 but abandoned the plan when it merged with Sichuan University in 1931. For details of this plan, see Chengdu Normal University (1930).

3. Beijing Normal University was reconstructed as part of the Temporary University of Xi’an and North-Western Associated University from 1937 to 1939, but students were registered independently.

4. European and American geographers’ contribution to geography’s modernization in China not only included geography in higher education but also geographical research and the introduction of geographical advances to domestic colleagues (see L. Zhang, 2009, 2015).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the National Social Science Foundation of China [Grant/Award Number: 16ZDA041 & 17FZS047].